Reader comments
GM CEO says bankruptcy probable but not preferred

bilbo | 1:35 p.m. April 17, 2009

Please don;t bastardize the bankruptcy process.
Break the MISERABLE union contracts first.
No way workers should get the benefits GM/UAW agreed to years ago,
The free ride is over!
I was a union member for 30 years. I didn't get free wages for several years if I lost MY job!
Do you realize if this continues, we taxpayers will be the ones footing the bill...and I will never buy another GM car.
Be a FORD person...tell em to keep their money!

Mr. President | 2:08 p.m. April 17, 2009

Do the right thing if you can stand up to union pressure. Or maybe you can just get the messenger fired. Being a union lap dog has its draw backs.

UAW Worker | 2:55 p.m. April 17, 2009

bilbo and President Obama,

What union did you retire from? Our pension benefits were negotiated over 30 years ago as deferred compensation, and already funded.

Maybe you should have switched jobs, or stood up for better treatment?

Be a FORD person? They have the same benefits!!!

BTW - It was a loan payable with interest, not a handout as was done with the Financial sector!

Comments continue below

gg | 3:21 p.m. April 17, 2009

Amazing, the call for more people to be poor. Auto workers and retirees contribute mightily to the US treasury. Take it all away and its a one way street. The misinformed elitits today are no different than the aristocrats of old just before the French revolution. and deserve the same fate.

Atlas | 3:33 p.m. April 17, 2009

Government Motors -- just shut it down!

UAW Woker | 4:06 p.m. April 17, 2009

Allowing corporations to go bankrupt after showing gross mismanagement for decades is morally wrong when long standing pension obligations (contracts) are allowed to just disappear.

The typical auto worker continued to come to work everyday and did as he or she is/was told by management, and did so chiefly for the "dangling carrot" of future retirement benefits.

While the executives are rewarded with millions of dollars in compensation for running a company into the ground, we are supposed to be happy to receive almost nothing after being promised more?

Everyone is missing the very important point that our pensions were part of our deferred compensation, and that the money was supposed to be placed in a seperate pension fund over the course of our working careers, and that all of our pension money should have already been there gathering interest.

Why can't alimony and child support be done away with in bankrupcy for individuals? Isn't that a contract too, and be morally wrong?

O's car czar being investigated | 4:44 p.m. April 17, 2009

Steven Rattner, the "Car Czar" who Obama selected to lead his auto task force, is now being investigated for his involvement in an "alleged" kickback scheme at New York state's pension fund.

Maybe Mr. Rattner's skills in "negotiation" will prove productive in assisting GM throughout their decision making process and in working with shareholders.

Wow, another great selection by Barry. If you're surprised by this, you're obviously not paying attention as this has become the norm for this administration. What would be surprising is to find an Obama appointee who actually paid their taxes or didn't have a very questionable history/past.

Rob | 6:11 p.m. April 17, 2009

The bankers created this house of cards economy that has crashed.People would still be buying cars if not for them.So what penalty do the bankers pay?
Oh yeah,they received 100s of billions of dollars for running their flim flam game.
So let`s blame working people and unions for everything.Yada,yada,yada.

In case some of you haven`t noticed,there is a direct assault on the middle class in this country.
This is just one more step in taking us all down.

My guess government workers and retirees are coming up soon.Then they`ll be after social security,medicare and every other social program while the elite fat cats loot the system.

Tamera | 9:47 p.m. April 17, 2009

It amazes me too that people are so ignorant when it comes to the pensions. All hourly auto employees had part of their wages deferred to the pension fund. That pension was earned and paid for by the GM, Chrysler and Ford hourly employees. It's NOT, I repeat, NOT a free pension. GM used part of that pension fund that was once overfunded to pay for the buyouts. GM should not have been able to raid the pension fund, as that belongs to the hourly employees who worked many years to make sure there would be enough money there to pay for retirement! Before people start spewing their hatred, perhaps they should get the facts straight. How would any of you like it if you payed into a fund for 30+ years so that you could retire - only to have management dig their greedy little hands into it? Oh wait...the crooks on Wall Street saw to it that your 401k's are gone, didn't they? And they got FREE bailout money, not LOANS, but that's okay, right?

No to unions | 8:50 a.m. April 18, 2009

Give me a break! Union workers have been way overpaid for the skill it requires to do their jobs. Do you ever look at how bored and indifferent those workers look about their jobs on the news? How about paying those high wages to ICU nurses who actually have to have a skill for their jobs. This is not the 50's where our country and workers are isolated. The reason all the manufacturing jobs are going away is that we wouldn't be able to afford to buy anything if the workers are making $20-30/hr plus all the extra benefits they get. Welcome to the real world UAW!

I think.... | 10:12 a.m. April 18, 2009

it is time for the gigantic prosperous oil companies to bail out the auto industry. Give the tax payers a break for a change. We are printing out money that we don't have, on paper people...

Pa. Rich | 2:33 a.m. April 19, 2009

I have some questions.
What is a fair wage for an hour of work?
Should everyone get the same?
What should determent how you are paid?
What is a contract?
I don't think everybody knows the history of the auto makers and the uaw.
Read some before you make a judgement.
class warfare is alive and well.

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